VEB plans to issue up to $1.5 bln in Eurobonds in 2010
MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Vnesheconombank (VEB) plans to place up to $1.5 billion in Eurobonds in 2010, sources in financial circles told Interfax.
VEB has sent out a request for proposal to banks, they said.
VEB will most likely place the Eurobonds after the Finance Ministry, which plans to place bonds abroad no earlier than February 2010.
The timeframe for the potential issue has not been determined yet, he said.
VEB expects the bond yields to be on a par with Russian sovereign debt. However, the bank is unlikely to get that yield "given the impending conversion to a stock company," he said. "Most likely it will be on the level of Eurobonds issued by Rosselkhozbank and Sberbank Russia ," he said.
Presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on November 12 that VEB might be converted into a stock company in 2010. President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday ordered the government to submit proposals on reorganizing the state corporations by March 1.
VEB announced on November 11 that it was beginning to prepare documents for the debut issue of Eurobonds under the Medium Term Notes (MTN) program. Proceeds from the placement will be used to finance ongoing lending activity.
The bank's annual report for 2008 said it might issue Eurobonds abroad in 2009 if the market improves. VEB planned to issue five-year notes in accordance with 144